


Earworms

by littleskywatcher



Category: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: F/M, Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-20 23:19:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6029209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleskywatcher/pseuds/littleskywatcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The songs from that movie <i>Enchanted</i> are incredibly catchy, much to Kit's chagrin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Earworms

“This had better be some soup,” Kit grumbled from the counter as his stomach growled loudly. Ronan ignored him, humming to himself as he stirred a pot of increasingly good-smelling something on the stove. Darryl was at the kitchen table, tapping away at his WizPod and seemingly oblivious to his surroundings–but he smirked when Kit groaned again. “I wanted to go out and grab something from a fast-food joint. Even just a snack. Was it too much to ask?” Ronan peered into the pot, still humming, and Kit glared at his back. “Are you making soup or contemplating the secrets of the universe?”

“I’m making stew,” the older boy replied pointedly, and his tone made Kit immediately regret his question. “Great food, like a great wizardry, takes time. Each ingredient must be perfectly balanced in relation to the others, to combat the entropy that so often plagues our lives. The orderly, well-concocted stew is closer to the order of Timeheart, and therefore brings us closer to the mystery of the One.”

“‘The order of Timheart,’” quoted Darryl, grinning. “I’m pretty sure even in Timeheart you wouldn’t be able to find anything in your room.”

“My room is a paragon of order in the face of chaos,” was the airy response, and Darryl snickered. “Besides, I know where everything is.”

“That’s what they all say,” Kit informed him drily. “Now could you please finish your philosophical stew so we can eat already?”

Ronan gave him a look. “Don’t rush me. Do you want to eat or not?” He pulled a salt shaker down from a nearby cabinet and started humming again.

“Drama king,” Kit muttered, but the threat was enough to shut him up. Mostly. Ronan pretended not to hear him, humming louder. From behind Kit, Darryl chuckled.

“What’s your problem?” Kit rounded on him.

“Aren’t we in a mood today, Your Kitness?” But Darryl looked at Ronan and started snickering again. For a moment Ronan looked blank, but then realization dawned and he stopped humming. Darryl laughed harder at his scowl. “You’re actually blushing,” he choked. “Do you know the entire song?”

“Oh, shut up. My little cousin made us watch it again last night.” Ronan sounded almost sullen. His ears were definitely red.

Kit must have looked confused, because Darryl put on a high voice and squeaked, “How does she know…?” Ronan glowered. Kit was horrified.

“You’ve seen it twice and you’re singing the songs?”

“Oh, come on, like you weren’t singing them after last week.”

“I wasn’t. I hate those songs.” Last weekend, Carmela had commandeered the entertainment system to show the excursus group _Enchanted_. The aliens’ reactions to musicals and Disney movie magic had been entertaining enough, but God, the singing. It never stopped. For days afterward, everyone in both households had been singing to themselves. He swore Nita did it more than usual once she found out it bugged him. Carmela in particular had taken to singing half a line at a time, in the hopes someone would “finish her heart’s duet.” It drove Kit bonkers.

“Denial,” chorused Darryl and Ronan. They traded significant glances, but when Kit opened his mouth to argue Ronan suddenly procured a ladle and dipped it in the pot. “Food’s ready,” he announced, effectively distracting Kit.

If he’s honest with himself, he should have started to worry right then.

\---

Not too many days later, Kit came downstairs (carefully skipping the third-to-bottom step–someone who was Irish and entirely too friendly with Kit’s stairs for his own good had convinced it to boom “TRUE LOVE’S KISS” in off-key bass when stepped on) to a not-unfamiliar scene: his sister and his best friend lounging on the couch watching alien television. Except–

“Hey, what are you doing to my phone?”

Carmela smiled innocently up at him. “Nothing.”

“I swear, Neets, if Ronan or Darryl convinced you to spell my phone to sing at me or something…”

“I’m not putting a spell on it!”

“Paranoid, _El Niño_? You’re just asking her because wizards can’t lie.” Carmela’s smile sweetened when Kit glowered at the nickname. Nita didn’t even try to hide her smirk.

“Whatever. Let’s go, Neets.” They were out in the backyard, just about to leave, when Carmela stuck her head through the back door.

“Mama and Popi want you home in time for dinner, _brujito_. I’m not sure what time–I’ll call.”

Of course Ronan and Darryl had been around to hear his phone start singing “That’s How You Know” when his sister called him. “You only asked if I was putting a spell on it,” Nita gasped out once she could breathe again. “Make sure you wash your mouth out before you eat your mama’s cooking, after that bout of expletives.”

\---

The Rodriguez living room looked like the aftermath of an epic battle involving notebooks and textbooks and printer paper. There was a rustling from beside the couch, an “Aha!”, and suddenly what had looked unnervingly like a pair of long legs regained a torso. Kit’s friend Raoul unfolded himself from over the arm of the couch, where he’d been wrestling from over the arm of the couch, where he’d been wrestling with the plug for his laptop. “Just in time!” he exclaimed in relief. “If my computer had died…need me to plug you in?”

Kit looked up from where he was sprawled on the floor in front of his laptop. “Nah, I’m good. Just got a new battery.” It was sort of true–even though he hadn’t technically changed the battery, Darryl had recently helped him set up a nearly infinite battery life. He just had to remember to run the charging routine every once in awhile, more to make the machine comfortable than anything else. “I’m a page away from length. You?”

Raoul grimaced. “Two pages out. I’m having trouble connecting everything. You know what we need? Music!”

Kit chuckled. He was surprised Raoul had lasted this long–he was not much for silence. He nodded at the TV and grabbed the remote to call up his Pandora study station.

The room filled with a woman’s voice, all on her own, interrupted by a man trying to stop the singing. Kit rolled his eyes. “'Mela’s station,” he offered by way of explanation, and hit the button to change stations. A different male voice started singing about dreaming of a true love’s kiss, and Kit glared at the TV. “Don’t make me get out the hammer,” he muttered in the Speech, and hit the button again. The woman’s voice was back, this time mid-song. “You have GOT to be kidding me,” he swore, and Raoul looked at him a little strangely.

“Do you want me to just play music from my computer?” he asked hesitantly. Kit just nodded, turning off the TV with a sharp word that he figured Raoul would excuse as a curse. Soon the room had Raoul’s favorite study mix–fairly mellow electronica–and the two of them got back to work. Every once in awhile Kit would catch a disturbingly familiar chord or phrase. He finally told his headphones to cancel noise and worked in silence, but not before sending an angry message to two wizards in particular:

WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM?

\---

Everyone was sprawled comfortably across the furniture and each other in the Callahan living room, half-watching TV and half-ignoring it in favor of spirited conversation. Dairine and Darryl and Sker'ret were deep in discussion of music in the key of M and human transcription methods. Nita was laughing as Carmela and Roshaun argued over the length of his forelocks–“They’re traditional, I don’t understand why you Earthlings haven’t adopted the fashion!” “Princeling, I’m pretty sure they’ve been adopted and discarded, trust me!”–and Filif and Ronan seemed to be analyzing the woman in the commercial. Kit sat in silence, partly listening but mostly enjoying the feeling of Nita leaning companionably against him, catching bits and pieces of dialogue.

“…would that sound?” “I…I could try to sing, if you are interested. I confess that my singing voice may be a little different than what you are accustomed to.” “Have you ever heard Ronan try to sing? I think we’ll be okay.”

“…clearly misunderstand. The lower class adopt the habits of the nobility. I assure you, before too long a time has passed, these humans will recognize my superiority and adopt the style in admiration and imitation…”

“…ah, so that’s how she knows…”

And without thinking, Kit found himself humming, “How does she know…?” into a sudden lull in the conversation.

Six pairs of eyes, a handful of berries, and an array of eyestalks stared at him. Kit could feel himself turning red.

Darryl turned to Ronan. “You owe me two bucks,” he demanded as the room exploded into laughter. “I _told_ you it could be done.”


End file.
